


one day

by brightsmoon



Series: dear, home. [6]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Anniversary, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Forests, Kissing in the Rain, Literal Sleeping Together, Living Together, Married Couple, Pet Names, Sharing a Bed, Tea, Thunder and Lightning, Thunderstorms, Wedding Present, raydiaweek2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 19:09:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20087299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightsmoon/pseuds/brightsmoon
Summary: Rayla wakes to an empty bed and finds her lover wholly content, hands in the rain, at peace. She joins her and together, they watch the thunderstorm take its course until she has a realization.RaydiaWeek2019 - Day Six ; First / One-hundredth Date





	one day

**Author's Note:**

> the timing of writing this was actually PERFECT - just as i started, one of my favorite songs came on (shoutout to spotify) and it started thundering and downpouring. i think that's the only reason i wrote this so fast because i was worried i wouldn't get this out on time because i was late on day six but!!! here she is!!! this is especially soft and i think that's because i feel so bad for day three.
> 
> title ; [one day](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/exes/oneday.html) by exes and jome

Rayla wakes to a crack of lightning, a rumble of thunder she feels resound in her chest, and an unoccupied bed. Groaning, she buries her face in the pillow and rustles her hand around in the sheets without looking.

_Empty. _

"Claudia?"

No answer. Rayla swears under her breath and sits up, dragging the blankets with her. Outside the window they had cracked to let in the cool spring night air, raindrops fall from the sill and run down like rivers against the pane.

Something on the porch moves and Rayla rubs at her eyes, already smiling.

She knows where her lover is.

Summer storms are something that's common in Duren, warmer temperatures rising until the night breaks them apart by splitting the sky with flashes of lightning intermingled with rolls of thunder. Another bolt of lightning illuminated the sky as Rayla rises, blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a second layer that her thin sleepclothes don't satisfy and she pads through the small cabin.

The cottage in the countryside on the border of Katolis and Duren, halfway up one of the mountains along the Belt that naturally divided the country had been a wedding present to them from Ezran and Callum.

Rayla had been watching Claudia spin in circles, her white dress fanning out around Soren and Callum's legs as she twirled from one to the other. Laughing at how her wife's smile stretched wide, Ezran had stepped up to her side and chuckled with her.

"For you," he had murmured and pressed a key into her hand, tag on the end swinging. Before she could ask, his eyes had darted to Claudia before he hugged her and walked away.

Chest heaving, Claudia had swept into her arms. "What's that?" she had asked after pressing a quick kiss to Rayla's lips in greeting.

"A wedding gift from Ezran," Rayla smiled. Claudia's eyebrow had quirked.

"A key?"

They had found out the answer the next day, when Ezran knocked at their door so early in the morning that the sun had barely risen and told them two horses were ready to ride out to Duren, for their present.

Even a year later, the cottage still steals Rayla's breath. The floor are sturdy and smooth beneath her bare feet, stripped and sanded pine laid out perfectly. There's barely four rooms; a main room including a kitchen, dining and living room; a small pantry off the kitchen; a bathroom; a bedroom.

It's the perfect size for them.

The wrap-around porch was by far Claudia's favorite and Rayla knows she's out there, now, as she moves past the small hand-carved table and two chairs. Overhead, there's a soft drumbeat of thunder that travels up her ankles.

She sighs at the feeling and pulls two mugs down from the rack on the ceiling. Although neither one of them are particularly fantastic at cooking, there's a full collection of pots and pans and they make good use of them.

Especially for making tea.

Filling the kettle and setting it on the stove to turn the knob to turn the gas on is instinct by now and Rayla closes her eyes for a moment as the water warms. The rain pattering against the roof is a comforting sound, soothing the sleep and stress from her shoulders. It's a feeling that's only accompanied by the thunder trembling the cottage timbers.

The eggshell blue kettle whistles and she pours it into the mugs before dropping in the bags of leaves into each and continuing through the little house. They're only here for a weekend, a breather in the middle of countless treaties, but she knows it's good for both of them.

She can't remember the last time she slept this well.

As predicted, Claudia is standing on the far part of the porch, almost right outside their bedroom window. Rayla's approach is silent, bare feet against damp wood and for a moment she simply soaks in the profile of her wife.

Claudia has one hand extended past the roof of the porch, fat raindrops rolling off her palm and down her arms, wetting the sleeve of her nightgown but it doesn't seem to bother her. Shoulders slack and relaxed, her eyes are closed and she sways slightly in the wind that kisses her cheeks.

She looks utterly at peace and Rayla smiles.

Setting down both mugs on the railing, she comes up behind her wife and wraps her arms around her middle, nestling her chin onto Claudia's shoulder. Claudia doesn't even start but Rayla can see how her lips curve upwards.

"I didn't mean to wake you," Claudia murmurs and through the downpour of the raindrops on the roof all around them, Rayla wouldn't be able to hear her if she wasn't so close.

Rayla shakes her head. "You didn't, the storm did."

Silence falls between them but it isn't awkward, simply comforting. The rain and thunder fills the space and Rayla closes her eyes, too.

She's missed this.

"I've missed you," she whispers, tightening her arms around Claudia's midsection. "I feel like it's been ages since we've been together."

Claudia's laughter shakes her body. "I'm right here, darling."

"No," Rayla shakes her head, pressing a kiss to her shoulder, "you are but you aren't. We're together but not alone. I've missed _this _\- being alone. _Together_."

Humming, Claudia rests the hand not in the rain atop Rayla's intertwined hands on her stomach. "I've missed this, too._ Us."_

"We should do this more often."

"Agreed," Claudia chuckles and the quiet surrounds them again.

"Want to know something?"

"Yes?"

Their tea has probably gone cold and the dampness is threatening to invade the blanket Rayla wrapped around herself but she doesn't budge. She buries her smile in Claudia's neck.

"It's our one-hundredth date today."

There's a moment where Claudia is simply thinking before she turns, arms coming around Rayla's form. The blanket falls from her shoulders but Rayla doesn't care because it's before sunrise and she has all she needs in her arms.

Claudia's nose is scrunched up like it is when she's thinking. "It is, isn't it?"

"It is," Rayla confirms with a giddy grin and presses her lips to the tip of her wife's wrinkled nose. Claudia chuckles at the feeling. "How should we celebrate?"

"How about a toast?"

Their two mugs clink together and Rayla makes a face when the tea slides across her tongue, cold. Claudia's face is the same.

Rayla offers her arm. "How about we remake the tea as a peace offering?"

"I'll allow it," Claudia announces and loops her arm through Rayla's elbow. They pause to gather the two mugs and the discarded blanket from Rayla's shoulders and make their way inside.

Nothing is said but Rayla can see how Claudia shivers. "Go change," she says softly after the door bounces closed behind them. "I'll start the tea."

"I love you," her wife says graciously and kisses her sweetly. Rayla pushes her shoulders toward the bedroom with a laugh.

"Alright, Romeo. Go change before you freeze to death."

The bedroom door stays open but Rayla waits until she hears the dresser drawer slide open before refilling the kettle and setting it on the stove. She bustles around, grabbing two more mugs and disposing of the cold tea before pulling out butter and bread from the icebox.

Claudia appears as the kettle whistles and they settle on the bed, food balanced on a tray, legs folded beneath them.

"To our one-hundredth date," Claudia declares. Rayla leans forward to kiss her rain-and-tea-soaked lips before pulling back.

The mugs' rims clink together. Claudia's eyes dance overtop.

Inevitably, they will finish the butter-soaked bread, chasing the last bits of it with their lips and Rayla will give into her wife's bedroom eyes.

They'll fall asleep like that.

_Together._


End file.
